This invention relates to pinball machines of the type which include a lower cabinet containing the playfield board and an upper cabinet containing various scoring displays and other displays, and in particular to a modular display assembly for such pinball machines.
In many pinball machines a lower playfield cabinet has mounted thereon an upstanding display cabinet which projects vertically upwardly from the lower cabinet. The display cabinet houses a plurality of photooptical and/or mechanical indicating devices which display player scores and game status information.
In a typical pinball machine, separate score display devices are provided for four or more players. The score display devices may be a drum score unit or a digital display unit with associated display driver printed circuit board. Additional display devices are provided for indicating game status information such as which player is up, bonus plays, end of game, etc. The game status information is generally displayed using low intensity lamps which selectively back light areas on the glass display panel which is mounted on the front of the display cabinet. The display panel which encloses the forward end of the display cabinet, is silkscreened with decorative imagery related to the game to hide from view the display circuitry but has clear areas for exposing to view the player score display devices which are mounted behind the display panel. The game status information to be illuminated is also silkscreened onto the display panel.
Conventionally, score display devices are located in upper left and right hand corners of the display cabinet and as such are located at a height two to three feet above the playing field. This requires that the player tilt his head up and down, continually to view the score panel as well as the playing field while playing the game, and this could result in loss of concentration.
In assembly of pinball machines of this type, the several discrete indicating devices are usually attached to the inner side or back walls of the display cabinet, with each display device being mounted individually. Electrical connections must be made between each display device and the control circuits for the pinball machine which are typically located in the lower cabinet. The mounting of the many discrete display devices within the display cabinet and making required electrical connections between the display devices and the control circuitry requires considerable time and is thus expensive. Moreover, service and repair either must be done on-site, or the entire pinball machine must be shipped to the factory or service representative. Either situation could result in temporary loss of the machine and the revenues which would otherwise be obtained if down time for the machine were minimized.